Friday, 9 June 2017

European Attendances : 1995-1999

In the UK the game appears to have needed a lift in the early 1990's. Public interest was obviously down as the attendance figures testify. What was needed? Fortuitously an idea was raised from a media source called Super League, a concept to take the game to the world. The UK was happy to get on board but the other professional competition in Australia was fiercely divided over it. That led to a split in the game down under which was only placated with a compromise solution. That meant SL never achieved fully what it set out to do.

However, the UK proceeded with it and the television deal that was included. It didn't take the game global, but SL certainly put money into it and captured the public interest again. That can be seen by the change in attendance figures in the 1995-6 season (the last before SL) and the subsequent years.

In the 1995-6 season, a paltry average of 5,516 was achieved per match. That amounted to 606,727 in total for regular season games, excluding any finals matches. For the first year of SL, that jumped to 6,578 or 868,255 in total. That represented a 43.1% increase. Thereafter the average was consistent for the remainder of the decade*.

Would SL continue to impact on the game in the UK? The next in the series will address that question. You can see that by clicking here.

SL Attendances 1995-99

AVG

1999

1998

1997

1996

1995-6

1

Bradford

11585

13216

12512

15122

10346

6731

2

Leeds

11021

13482

11494

11007

8581

10540

3

Wigan

9942

9206

10610

8867

10168

10861

4

St Helens

8190

8201

7206

8826

10221

6494

5

Paris St G

6768

-

-

5510

8026

-

6

Castleford

5398

6877

6395

5004

5012

3702

7

Warrington

5009

5110

4897

5404

5157

4475

8

Hull FC

4999

4376

5621

-

-

-

9

Halifax

4933

4483

5455

5408

5083

4234

10

Salford

4800

4505

4692

5202

-

-

11

Huddersfield

4436

3729

5142

-

-

-

12

Wakefield

4181

4181

-

-

-

-

13

Sheffield

4024

3540

4641

4413

4704

2824

14

London

3953

2928

3842

5125

5699

2170

15

Gateshead

3888

3888

-

-

-

-

16

Oldham

3453

-

-

3832

3629

2898

17

Workington

2544

-

-

-

2305

2783

TOT AVG

6443

6266

6876

6977

6578

5516

TOTAL

932113

1315836

948831

920915

868255

606728

* In 1996, the number of teams went from 11 to 12. Then again an increase in competing sides from 12 to 14 in 1999, which reduced the average but bumped up the total figure.